


Adventure and Flirting

by Shidoni8



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: ASMR, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, F/F, Femslash, Flirting, Frottage, I'm new to this tagging thing, Light Bondage, Morning Sex, Multi, Oral Sex, PWP, Strap-Ons, Threesome - F/F/F, basically adventure and smut, but with a little plot, it gets domestic later, the world needs more femslash so I'm doing my part, whoops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-05-25 11:20:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6193015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shidoni8/pseuds/Shidoni8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Isabela finally convinces Hawke that she doesn't owe her life to Kirkwall, they set sail for adventure all around Thedas.</p><p>One gamer's wish fulfillment of the adventures my Fem/Mage/Hawke could have with Isabela on her shiny new ship. It's going to be full of silliness, flirting, and sex. May disregard canon at points because I'm new to the fandom and don't know everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Convincing Hawke

For a few years after that mess in Kirkwall they stuck around and tried to help put everything back together. But with each month, and then week to week, there were calls to make Marilux Hawke the Viscount, and that was the last thing she wanted.

Since Isabela had moved in with her, Hawke had thoroughly enjoyed her company. No matter how exhausted she was, they’d sit at the small table by the fireplace in her, their bedroom. Sometimes they’d talk as they ate, but when Mari was truly worn out from a day of political disaster prevention, Isabela was happy to let her recuperate quietly. Tonight was not one of those nights.

The topic of conversation was one they’d hashed over a hundred times, but this time Isabela felt like she was turning the tides.

“I still have Castillon’s old ship,”Isabela gestured with a half-eaten chicken leg. “We could set sail anytime. Get out of this smelly city. It’d be romantic, the wind in our hair. I miss always smelling of sea-salt,” she sighed.

“I can’t leave them to themselves,” Mari dropped her head into her hands, rubbing at the worry lines that had appeared in her brow. “It feels as though I’m carrying this whole city on my shoulders.”

Isabela scoffed from her slumped position in the cozy armchair.  
“I know that life isn’t fair, love, but this really shreds my sails. You can’t keep doing the work of a Viscount with none of the perks.”

“It’s not perks I want, It’s peace! If they’d all stop tearing at each other like opportunistic dogs maybe we could take a trip. Sail up the coast, get lost in Orlais. I’d love to-”

“No, that’s not what I meant and you know it. When I said we should leave I meant right now! This city is leaving its mark on you, and you know that’s a job much better suited for me.” she leaned over and peered under Mari’s bangs to giver her an impish look.

“It’s an exhausting job all right-”

“And you don’t even want it! Let the politicians squabble! Let the mages fight their own battle! Who even cares of Orsino does this, or that? You act like this is all your responsibility, and it’s not.” By now she’d left the table, knelt on the floor by Hawke’s chair and slid her hands around her love’s firm biceps. “You don’t owe them anything.”

“I have done quite a lot. I always feel as though there’s more I could do.” She slumped down into Isabela’s arms, accepting the comforting embrace for what it was.

“Doubtless true, you could continue to do so for as long as it took, and it would never be enough. They’ll always pull apart, and ruin things for each other. That’s how cities work. You struggle with that because your peaceful little village didn’t have enough drama in it to swing a blade at.”

“Are you calling me rural?” She gave Isabela a challenging look. “I’ve got an estate!” she teased.

“And a fine one it is! But wait until you see the Captain’s quarters on the new ship. We have yet to christen her properly,” the former pirate winked and pulled Mari into a standing position, just so she could run her hands all over her lover’s body. Mari responded by delicately sliding her fingertips up Isabela’s thighs, under her tunic, and cupping her beautiful bottom.

“So,” she ghosted her lips over Isabela’s, “You’re assuming I’ve agreed to this ludicrous plan?”

“Oh, you’ve agreed,” Isabela moaned when Mari’s lips moved along her throat and sucked and bit and suddenly she was pressed up against the wooden bedpost. Unused to being the pressee, Captain Isabela pushed back, but with a firm kneading pressure on her hips, and her lover’s leg snaking between her thighs, she thought it might benefit her to submit a little.

Marilux Hawke, for her part, wasn’t done doubting the morality of leaving all of Kirkwall to hold itself together, but she was past caring when Isabela’s dark cheeks were flushed with coral tones like the sun low over the water of the Waking Sea. She needed this, needed every brush of skin on skin, so she began to disrobe the both of them. Marvelously, Isabela let her do it all.

Perhaps she felt it in herself to take control because she felt powerless with the city nobles, perhaps it was just her turn to lead. Mari didn’t dwell too long on the psychology of sex, but it was a good way to de-stress.

Using all of her strength, she pushed Isabela back, to fall to the bed. They both laughed as the force bounced her up once and again. For all the action this bed saw, it retained a surprising amount of spring back.

Mari pinned Isabela to the bed, using her slight height advantage to wrap her legs around those thick thighs while holding her wrists tight above her head. Looking down at all of her beautiful lover stretched out beneath her, Mari let out a sigh.

“Bela, you’re gorgeous,” she stared and smiled until Isabela started squirming. The gentle wriggling that lovers do when they don’t want out of their lover’s grasp, but to be more firmly encased in it. To be closer until they can’t breathe without taking in each other’s essence. Isabela’s wrists and hips were on fire wherever she was touched by Hawke, and all she wanted to do was burn.  
“Will you bloody touch me already?!”

Mari immediately swooped down and took one of Isabela’s nipples into her mouth. Isabela was overcome with sensations: the firm pressure on her wrists and legs, the tight sucking, and when Mari began to grind her hips into Bela’s it drove the pleasure to another level.

“More, Mari, I need more,” Isabela tried to open her legs, but could only struggle in vain. Marilux looked thoughtfully at her love and made a quick decision.

“Give me your scarf,” she took it from Isabela’s hair and tied it round her wrists, grinning as she did so. “Now I can keep you in check and still use my hands.”

“You’re very pleased with yourself, aren’t you?” Isabela tried to sound sarcastic, but it was difficult when she was now making small gasps of pleasure as her Hawke kissed and bit at her hipbones. A hand at her breast and another wrapped around her waist, and that beautiful mouth making its mark on her skin, Isabela was in a trance. She’d never been tied up with her scarf before, but so far she liked it. The material was so flimsy, if she’d needed to escape she could have easily. Escape, however, was the furthest thing from her thoughts. She fisted her hands in her hair, needing to grab onto something, as Mari’s lips found an especially sensitive spot.

Mari drew her tongue across the soft skin where thigh meets groin, and savored the heady smell of her lover’s sex. She never have guessed this would be an act that she’d come to adore, but the sensory flavors it provided were almost as intoxicating as the sounds and spasms it provoked in a lover.

They said that to give proper cunnilingus one should simply kiss as though kissing their partner’s mouth, but that wasn’t accurate at all. The small and delicate flicks of the tip of one’s tongue on a clitoris, or a wet, warm swipe of the flat tongue over an entire vulva were hardly appropriate ways to treat a mouth. But Hawke had been practicing for a few years now, and knew exactly how to take Isabela apart, piece by piece.

With one hand, she’d spread Bela’s lips, and with another hand under her lover’s sacrum, canted the pirate’s hips up to meet her mouth. With Isabela's hands tied, which would have affectionately smoothed over her hair or across her cheek, Mari was able to focus wholly on Isabela’s body. Her hips had a language of their own, and with each movement Hawke knew what she needed, more here, less of that.

As Isabela’s sweet mewls of pleasure and sultry moans of desire increased and heightened, Marilux switched tactics, intending to bring her quickly over the edge. Isabela was so wet, Mari inserted two swift fingers, stroking at the firmer place just behind and above the opening. A gentle sucking at the pearly flesh of her clit and she howled with pleasure, heedless of who might hear her bless Mari’s fingers, her tongue. Their bodies thrummed with pleasure, joined by the salt of sweat and come. They lay still for some time, enjoying the feeling of racing hearts slowing, and sweat prickling on cooling skin.

“Get up and untie me,” Isabela said, “It’s my turn.”


	2. Convincing Hawke pt 2: The Treasure Chest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> continued from ch 1

Soon after Isabela moved into the Hawke Estate she brought in something that puzzled Marilux Hawke. The large estate was nearly empty, and Mari was infinitely delighted by Bela moving in, but she didn’t need to bring junk with her.

“What the Fade is that?” she’d asked, seeing Isabela carrying what looked like a plain old trunk. “I’ve inherited countless chests, each one emptier than the last, and you bring that tatty thing along? Has it got sentimental value of some kind?”

Isabela had just smirked and said, “You could say that.”

Now, just after bringing Bela to a stunning climax, Mari was aching for reciprocation. She knew exactly what she wanted, and it was in that old chest that she had grown to love. The trunk had a modest, but remarkably variable, collection of sexual tools in it. It had begun as some rope and a few hand-bindings, a few oils, and a small flogger from one of Isabela’s previous partners). They’d built upon it as their needs grew.

Isabela came back from the ‘treasure chest’ with a mess of leather straps and a length of beautifully polished wood. This had become one of Mari’s favorite toys. She loved the feeling of being filled up with something so unyielding as wood. It had a base, perfect for affixing to the leather harness, and was made to order with Mari’s exact desires in mind. She was thankful for the thousandth time to the craftsman who lovingly created these beautifully sealed and polished wooden members, and to Isabela’s sources which led there.

Mari was so wet and ready, she wanted to be fucked, and had no patience at all. She had laid back on the bed, presenting herself as ready and willing. Her arousal, fueled by watching her lover’s beautiful climax, had exploded into an unstoppable wildfire that raged within her.

“Hurry up, Bela, I’m going to drown over here,” she said, caressing her clit. It was hard to resist touching herself as she watched Isabela pull the harness over her legs, and buckle it up. After focusing on the buckles, she looked up, and Isabela’s eyes met Mari’s, lidded and welcoming.

“Sweetheart, you know I’d never leave you wanting,” she finally replied, the moments between them long but not unpleasant. The silences they shared carried not only a feeling of warmth and trust that had been ripening in the time they’d lived together, but also a language they’d developed without having to learn. With a look, Isabela knew that Mari was so lost to her lust that she had forgotten how exhausted she was before dinner. At the same moment, Mari knew that Isabela wanted to fuck her hard tonight, wanted to make up for having been tied up, even though she’d enjoyed it. She liked to assert herself, and Mari usually loved to affirm it.

“Get over here,” she growled, and Isabela obeyed.

The toy Isabela had chosen had a few ridges on the top of the shaft; Mari liked it best for the internal stimulation. It was gleaming in the light, a gleam which only increased as Mari liberally applied oil to it, causing Isabela to jerk as though she could feel the touch. It was a beautiful toy, but right now all Mari wanted was to feel it inside her.

She grabbed Isabela by the arms, and pulled her down to the bed.

Normally, Isabela’s fingers would have lovingly brushed over the trembling flesh of Mari’s collarbone, breast, stomach and her hip before plunging into her wet cunt. She’d open her up with one, two, then three fingers. But neither of them wanted to wait, and with permission to go hard, they had no reason to hold back. 

Giving, and taking, all you could from a lover was an indescribable experience. Neither of them could believe, when they stopped to think about it, that they’d be able to trust another person this much. Knowing that it was what she wanted, Isabela guided the toy to Mari’s opening and firmly pressed forward, watching her face carefully for the expression she loved to see.

The first push was always a challenge, but one that Mari eagerly rose to. She closed her eyes in rapture, almost relishing the edge of pain in the stretch of her muscles as Isabela pushed inside. She buried her hands in Isabela’s hair, making sure to gasp and cry out softly just into her lover’s ear as she slowly sank deeper and deeper.

“Mmmaker yes,” she turned her moan into the words that would urge Isabela on, “I’m ready, dearest, I need it… Please give it to me, I love it, I love you.”

Isabela fucked her harder, Mari’s legs crossed over her back and held on tightly. The ridges on the shaft brushed every one of Mari’s sweet spots, as they glided in and out. She wanted it hard, and faster.

“Bela, please… Please more, that’s right, there it is. You’re so perfect, so good- yes!”

Isabela laughed as she kissed Mari’s neck, buried in her to the base of the shaft. Isabela bit down, hard, knowing Mari was near climax, and the feeling of teeth on her skin set an electric jolt down her spine, making her buck under Isabela. Mari held on even tighter, grabbing handfuls of plump ass to force their bodies closer. Her cunt spasmed around the incredibly unyielding toy, and the edge of pain and pleasure wavered once again.

Isabela, having collapsed on her, kept Mari warm as her orgasmic haze started to lift. She barely managed to clean herself up before the exhaustion crept back into her bones, willing her to sleep. Before Isabela could even remove the harness, Mari had fallen into a deep sleep, lightly snoring.

“Love you too, Sweet thing,” Isabela whispered, pulling the blankets up around Marilux. “We’ll start packing in the morning,” she smiled as she curled up against Mari’s warm back, stroking her skin gently.


	3. Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before Hawke and Isabela can leave there's one incredibly important thing they need to do, and it involves something they've never told Merrill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter betaed by the very gracious Lakaddy !

After making their decision, Isabela and Mari had taken a few days to secretly pack their belongings and settle affairs. They’d only come out in the evenings to have a few drinks with their friends. Everyone had been suspicious of their secretive looks, little smiles, and their general absence during the day.

Varric and Anders had a bet going on what the Void their secret could be. Anders thought they’d be starting a family and Varric scoffed and muttered something about adding a dungeon with a sex swing to the Hawke estate.

Fenris and Aveline desperately stayed away from this conversation.

Merrill was the only one who was invited up for dinner.

Mari, Isabela, and Merrill had finished a meal and were sharing a bottle of wine, sitting on the floor by the fire.

“Here’s the thing, Kitten,” Isabela purred, “we’re leaving town. Soon.”

Mari watched on, sitting anxiously with her knees drawn up to her chin.

Merrill’s mouth popped open in surprise, but the fire crackled on. After a few beats, Hawke and Isabela’s eyes met. All three seemed puzzled.

“Ah,” the elf finally said, and the word dropped into the silence like a pebble in a cave pool. “So,” she continued, “who’s after you now, then?”

Their laughter burst out suddenly.

“Nobody, this time,” Isabela gasped between chuckles.

“Then, why go? And why tell me? And why are we drinking the finest wine in Thedas?”

The other women shared another look.

“You tell her, sweet thing,” Isabela finally said, “I can’t look in those big, green kitten eyes and crush her spirit.”

Mari turned to Merrill, grabbing her hand in a burst of bravery.

“Merrill, dear… Isabela and I are, well we’re sailing away from Kirkwall. And we aren’t coming back for a long time. Bela finally convinced me that I’ve put my whole heart into this city, and it never gives back. I’m done trying to babysit a bunch of blighted fools who keep trying to insult and kill each other.”

Merrill nodded, her mouth still hanging open as if stunned.

“We’re telling you because,” Isabela said, eager to skip the sad part, “we’ve run out of time. Remember that night at the Hanged Man, when we all got a little drunk,” Hawke snorted and Bela shushed her, “and you came out into the alley when Mari and I were… well you know?”

Merrill immediately turned redder than the coals in the fireplace. She most definitely remembered that night. She’d never been so instantly aroused. She’d actually called out to them, pretended not to know what they were doing at first. She stepped closer, wanting a better look, feeling guilty for wanting it, getting only a glimpse of a bare thigh where someone’s clothes had been moved up or down. In the darkness their faces were clearly flushed and their eyes bright as they both stared at her. She stammered as if suddenly noticing their undress, then turned and ran back to her small home in the alienage. She almost felt too embarrassed to touch herself, but couldn’t resist. Her whole body flush with desire, her legs were weak and her knees fell open the moment she was in bed.

“I don’t quite recall…” she murmured, knowing from their furtive glances that they didn’t believe her.

“It’s alright, Kitten, we aren’t upset. Actually, we almost went after you,” Isabela smiled and took Merril’s other hand. Doubtful, Merrill looked to Hawke.

“But, we didn’t want to scare you off, or offend you. We’d be heartbroken if we hurt you.”

Merrill looked between the two of them, their smiles were tender. Could this be real?

“You mean to say…” Merrill said quietly, “that you would like to have… that is you think I’m… and that we…”

“Is that a yes?” Mari blurted out.

“Of course we do!” Isabela interrupted, “We’ve both wanted you since…”

“We couldn’t leave without telling you-”

“Without doing something-”

“Will you two stop?!” Merrill was as close to shouting as she ever got. She scooted back, needing space to clear her head. “You’re very overwhelming you know? With your eyes and your… skin in the firelight. By the Dread Wolf, it’s enough to drive anyone mad!”

Mari looked concerned, “So you don’t want to? It’s alright, you know, we won’t be hurt. But-”

“Oh!” Merrill’s eyes widened impossibly, “No, I want to, I’m-”

But no-one would ever know what she was about to say because with her confession the last of Isabela’s reservations seemed to flee and she surged forward to kiss the elf in mid-sentence.

Mari looked on in disbelief for a moment, before smiling to herself and taking another drink of wine

As she did, she watched them kiss. Isabela was like a wild cat, next to Merrill she looked dangerously exciting, and moved like a liquid, pouring itself into a tall glass.

Merrill, for her part, was just as beautiful. Her skin was even fairer than Mari’s, so the blush on her cheeks was shocking, like blood on snow. Her lips were plump already, thanks to Isabela.

Merrill turned to face Hawke; she knew she’d been staring. Her dark forest eyes never leaving Mari’s, she crawled forward across the soft rug, took the bottle from Mari’s hands, had a drink, and set the empty bottle down.

“Do you like watching, Hawke? Or do I get to kiss you too?” she asked quietly. The firelight flickered across her face, making her Dalish tattoos seem to dance. Quickly, before she could lose her nerve, she kissed Merrill.

Kissing Merrill was nothing like kissing Isabela. Isabela was as bossy in the bedroom as out, but Merrill followed Mari’s lead, gasping in desperate little breaths between kisses. Now and then she seemed emboldened by the wine, and swayed into Mari, capturing her mouth and even gently nipping with her teeth.

Their arms had wrapped around each other, and Mari could suddenly feel Isabela join them, fitting her body along the line of Merrill’s back, and gently sucking on her neck.

As their temperatures rose and their thoughts became hazy, their hips began to move, all three of their bodies slowly grinding together. Someone’s hands were stroking up Mari’s back, and down her arms, and grasping her hips, but whose she’d never be able to tell. Her senses were overcome with the smell of Merrill’s skin, pine needles, and Isabela’s hair, cinnamon, where it fell across Merrill’s neck. They were a buffet, a feast, and yet there was nothing that would sate their appetites.

“Can we move this party to the bed, girls? My knees are getting sore,” Isabela complained.

She stood and perched herself on the end of the bed, crooking her fingers to the other women.

Merrill stood, but she paused with a hand braced on the mantel.

“Before we go any further, I have to ask. Is this only for tonight?”

Mari was so moved by Merrill’s sad and wistful tone, she went to her and gently stroked her shoulder.

“That’s all the time we have, Daisy. We’ve made our decision already.” She looked to Isabela, reassuring herself of that choice, “but we wanted to share this with you, as a gift, and a celebration. We may never come back, but if we do, you’ll be the first in Kirkwall to hear. Or we’ll come and search you out. But for now, this is what’s best for me, and Bela.”

As she’d spoken, Merrill turned back to Mari and embraced her tightly, “I will miss you, Hawke. I’ll miss you both so terribly much,” she whispered.

“We’ll miss you too,” Isabela piped up, “but we don’t have to talk about that til’ the morning.” She grinned, “We don’t have to talk much, except for you to tell us what you like, Kitten.”

Trust Isabela to steer the mood back toward sex. She wasn’t always good at emotions, she’d said as much many times. If the two of them started saying goodbye now they might start crying and be unable to stop, and then nobody would be getting laid tonight.

“Kiss me again, please?” Merrill asked, her voice was soft and vulnerable. The disbelief that she could have been this lucky, and the sweet curiosity of learning a new lover were all in her voice, and in the feather-light touch of her hand through Mari’s hair as their lips met again.

As they kissed, Hawke walked them backwards, pushing Merrill into Isabela’s reach. Isabela began to undo buckles, and loosen belts. Their lips broke apart only to remove their clothes, and soon they were frantic with the need to feel each other’s skin.

Finally free of their clothes they tumbled onto the bed, Merrill once again in the middle. Mari and Isabela on either side were spooning and caressing her. One of them murmured “how beautiful you are,” and “thank the Maker” and someone replied “or the Creators.”

Isabela took Merril’s face between her hands, and instead of kissing the thin flesh of her fluttering eyelids, she stared into the elf’s eyes and said, “Kitten, if you have any ideas please speak up, but if you don’t mind… Mari and I would like to try a few things. If you’re ever uncomfortable, if we reach a limit…”

“I know,” she grinned, and Bela had never seen Merrill’s smile that big, “Anders told me your safeword,” she giggled.

“Damn that nosy, nug-humper,” Mari groaned, “I should have never played ‘truths’ with him.”

Isabela laughed too, and then gave in to her desire to kiss Merrill wherever she could reach.

Merrill felt more comfortable, having talked about limits. Who knew what Hawke and Isabela got up to in the privacy of the largely empty Hawke Estate? Not that she didn’t trust them. She certainly trusted them enough to let Isabela completely possess her mouth, and just as the small gold stud brushed against her lips and tongue, Hawke was scoring her nails gently down Merrill’s back. Gooseprickles rose on her skin, from her neck to her hips. Like a fire, slowly consuming her, Merrill’s skin crawled and in its wake the fire left embers in the form of a warm, melting feeling. All of the blood in her body seemed to rush between her legs. Her thoughts were scattered to the wind.

“I think she likes your nails, Sweet thing,” Isabela teased, having watched Merrill’s whole body writhe.

Mari smiled mischievously and started gently positioning her bedmates to make use of this new development.

“I suppose I was getting hungry,” Isabela said wryly after Hawke whispered something to her. She lay back, head on a pillow, as though waiting for something. Merrill, having sat up, looked to Hawke for guidance.

“Dearest, have you ever heard of face sitting?”

Merrill was determined not to be naive and reveal her surprise, so she only said, “Which way do you want me, then?” and tried to control her racing heart. She’d heard of it, somehow, and maybe dreamed a little, but never thought she’d be the recipient of such an act. Just thinking about it made her clit give a little throb.

“Facing me,” Mari said.

She settled into position, hovering above Isabela, not wanting to hurt her. As though she could read minds, or perhaps just bodies, Isabela said, “You’re not going to break me,” and she wrapped her hands firmly around Merrill’s hipbones and pulled her down to get a taste.

Merrill grabbed Isabela’s hips just to keep herself from falling. It was first time that anyone’s tongue had ever tasted her sex, and with each exploratory lick, the sensations seemed to travel up her spine, and make her back arch.

Mari straddled Isabela’s hips, facing Merrill, and helped steady her. Merrill was already gasping, so Mari gently held Merrill’s head, as her body writhed, and took those gasps into her own mouth. She wrapped her arms around the elf and scored her nails along her upper back. She started out gently, drawing them across her shoulder blades, then down her ribs. Isabela had caught on and used her own nails likewise on Merrill’s lower back.

Never in a hundred eras could Merrill have imagined this. Not only were the sensations of Isabela’s mouth incredible, but their nails traveling over her skin was causing a warm, trickling feeling to flow down from her scalp to her limbs. Her very thoughts grew hazy, floating in euphoria. When it plateaued she found that she needed more.

“Harder, Hawke,” she found herself whispering. Isabela responded as well, nuzzling her mouth into Merrill’s clit and sucking. Mari tried not to hurt Merrill, but she knew the marks would fade soon enough. She began to dig her nails into Merrill’s skin, scoring it truly. She did all but draw blood. Never had she been able to relish the effect this would have on a lover. Bela wasn’t as sensitive to it. 

Merrill’s face softened, her mouth poised open in a sigh. The pain was exquisite. She felt as though she were fading in and out of this realm. Her body went tense and she cried out several times, naming several gods neither of the other women had heard of. Mari held her tightly, kissed her neck. Isabela held her hips tight as she came, the rhythm of her orgasm rippling against her mouth.

She all but collapsed to the side, and Isabela scooped Merrill against her chest and held her tightly. Mari had moved to the side a bit, and now settled in front of Merrill, stroking her face and cooing to her, sweet nothings designed to help a lover come gently out of the blissful fugue of climax. 

“That was perfect, sweetheart, you did so well, you’re so beautiful,” Mari murmured quietly.

“And I didn’t see any of it,” Isabela quietly grumped. “We’ll have to do that differently next time.”

Mari quickly shushed her, “You just wait til morning, won’t you? Does she look in any state?”

“Who, me?” Merrill’s usually chipper voice was a little breathy still. Her eyes didn’t open as she spoke, “I’ll still be here in the morning, I can hardly move my toes, let alone leave here tonight.”

“There’s no way we’d let you leave yet, Kitten,” Bela snuggled her closer. “We’re not done saying goodbye yet.”

Mari pulled the covers up to keep them warm. The embers from the fire were slowly ashing over, and she’d have to get up to stoke them later. For now there was no force in this world, or the Fade, that would persuade her to leave these two women.


	4. Making Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The most fluffy morning sex I've ever written and a sweet send-off for the adventursome two. Quiet noises and soft kisses are the best way to awaken; Merrill and Isabela have some alone time after the passionate night preceding.

The silvery dawn sunlight was just peering from behind heavy drapes, slicing across the bed where the three women lay entangled. The fire had perished hours before, but under the plush covers they’d shared warmth and never noticed the chill of the air.

Isabela woke, startled from sleep by the sound of a squeaky wheel in a merchant’s cart halfway across the square outside the Hawke Estate. Light sleep would always be a habit after so many years on the run from somebody. She only ever slept soundly when ensconced in the captain’s quarters of her own ship.

She inched out of bed, brushing aside one of Merrill’s sleep heavy arms, to wash her face in a basin. Some people might like wearing last night’s come on their face, but Isabela didn’t personally know anyone who did. Snuggling back into the warm covers she was almost instantly asleep.

\|/

A quiet moan brought Merrill to the waking world. She was incredibly warm, more than she could ever be in her little house in the alienage. Remembering the night before, her whole body seemed to blush, a roil of warmth rippling out from her center. Isabela, usually brash and independent, was still asleep and tucked into Merrill’s side. Her hips were softly thrusting forward and back, not to her satisfaction, because she continued to moan. Merrill blushed, she was amazed that this was a sight for her. She cupped Isabela’s cheek and kissed it gently until her lashes fluttered open and the gentle moans ceased.

Those topaz eyes now looked at her, blinking away the sleepy haze.

“Oh maker, how much of that did you…?” The question was answered by Merrill’s breathy giggle.

Isabela looked slightly abashed, but Merrill seized the opportunity.

“Maybe we can… make our dreams a reality?” she asked, hoping that Isabela took her meaning.

Isabela’s eyes glowed with the spark that alit whenever she flirted with danger or sex.

“I think we can arrange that, Kitten.”

They kissed, almost forgetting that Mari was still behind them, sleeping soundly.

“Should we…?” Merrill gestured to their sleeping friend.

“No, she sleeps like a mabari hound, and wakes like one too,” they laughed a little. “Besides, she got her fill of you last night.”

“Technically, so did you,” Merrill teased, and suddenly blushed, remembering the feelings of Isabela’s mouth.

Their mouths and bodies seamlessly slotted together, Isabela’s leg hitched over Merrill’s. Their hands roamed freely, smoothing tenderly over skin, fingers skipping across ribs and pulling each other closer. While they moved together the buttery sunlight turned golden, and they danced like the dust motes in sunbeams. The lazy slide of naked skin, slicked up by their arousal, melted them with pleasure. The dust motes and sunbeams, forgotten, seemed to hang like candied honey in the timeless air.

Because it had built so steadily, her orgasm caught Isabela by surprise. Merrill, seeing Isabela’s features take on that singular bliss, that pleasured pain, was overcome by the sight and felt the thrumming within her suddenly peak. 

When she opened her eyes, Isabela’s topaz gaze was back on her. It was clear that she’d seen just as much of Merrill’s climax and had enjoyed the sight. With great care, Isabela leant forward and placed one gentle kiss on Merrill’s brow. This was the softest Merrill had ever seen her, but maybe Hawke saw this more often.

Especially after such a beautiful night, Merrill couldn’t muster any negative energy to be jealous of either one of them. It made her truly happy that they had found each other, and it had brought them so much joy and peace. She knew that if she hadn’t become so close to the elves in the alienage she’d want to come with them, but knew it wasn’t her place to invite herself on anyway. This was their adventure, Hawke and Isabela. Nobody could deserve it more.

No matter how much she’d miss them, she would always have this memory to treasure. And maybe to warm her bed some nights. After all, memory is much more tangible than imagination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my headcanon (for my own story) for why Merrill is staying behind is because the elves in the alienage began to trust her and get to know her better and they realized that she has a lot to offer, especially when they are scared of what has happened in Kirkwall and scared of magic. She tells them tons of stories she's learned as First, stories about the elves before they fall of Arlathan and stories about different Dalish clans. I think it's adorable and fitting and she needs something to do with her life anyway, and she needs to improve her social skills. bam :)


End file.
